HIV Testing Introduction

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV destroys the body's immune system and eventually leads to AIDS. People with AIDS develop many diseases and "opportunistic" infections (such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer, and skin infections) that may ultimately lead to death. Prevention is critical. There is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but currently, there are effective treatments that can drastically slow the disease process. If you have been exposed to the HIV virus in any number of ways, you can very easily be tested to determine whether or not you have been infected with the virus.

How HIV is transmitted

The HIV virus can be transmitted by unprotected sexual contact (vaginal, anal, or oral sex), sharing needles, by transfused blood products, from mother to newborn, and by occupational needle-stick exposures.

Higher risk of HIV transmission is associated with a higher number of sexual partners.

From the minute the HIV enters the body, the virus begins replicating at a rate of 10 billion new viral particles per day. In fact, it is during this early burst of viral replication, within the first month of contracting HIV, when patients are mostly asymptomatic, that the virus is high in numbers and more likely to be spread from one person to another.

Globally, most new HIV infections occur in developing countries, such as in Africa and Asia, where the vast majority of cases are transmitted by sexual relations between men and women (heterosexual intercourse).

In the United States, the vast majority of cases are known to have been transmitted by homosexual and bisexual men and IV drug abusers. Among homosexuals, it appears that the receptive partner during anal intercourse is placed at highest risk for disease transmission.

The incidence of HIV is approximately three times greater in males than in women.

Among heterosexuals, male-to-female transmission is much more likely to occur than female-to-male transmission.